ETOBICOKE, Ontario - The afternoon of Saturday, Oct. 4, is shaping up as the second-biggest in Woodbine's history, behind only Breeders' Cup Day here in 1996.
Four graded turf stakes - the $2 million Canadian International, $1 million E.P. Taylor, $500,000 Nearctic, and $300,000 Summer - will be contested, and the winners of each will gain automatic berths into their corresponding Breeders' Cup races.
ELMONT, N.Y. - The connections of Zaskar picked some ambitious spots for her to participate in when she first arrived in this country from Europe three months ago. After disappointing results in the Grade 1 American Oaks and Grade 2 Lake Placid, Zaskar has been entered in a more realistic spot in Sunday's $75,000 Statuette Stakes at Belmont Park.
The Statuette, run at a mile over the Widener turf, is restricted to 3-year-old fillies who have not won a turf stakes in 2008. A field of 10 was entered.
MIAMI - After finishing second behind division leader Wise Answer as a maiden in the 2007 In Reality Stakes and then graduating by nearly a dozen lengths four weeks later, Cigar Man was generally considered one of the more promising 2-year-olds on the grounds here last fall. Unfortunately, the homebred never lived up to expectations, finishing off the board in his first seven starts as a 3-year-old before returning home to win a first-level allowance race earlier this month.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - The supporting card for the $250,000 British Columbia Derby includes three stakes races, and the most interesting one is the $50,000 Derby Bar and Grill Express that goes as the seventh race.
What makes the race so compelling is the presence of Flamethrowintexan, who is trained by Jim Penney.
BOSSIER CITY, La. - A handful of promising 3-year-olds were to run Saturday at Louisiana Downs in the Grade 2, $500,000 Super Derby, but one name missing from the entries was Hi Ho Cheerio. He emerged as one of the most exciting young horses at the meet, with back-to-back wins in a pair of route races.
Plans were to proceed to the Super Derby, but that changed when Hi Ho Cheerio sustained a tendon injury in one of his final workouts for the race. Trainer Bob Young said Hi Ho Cheerio is now scheduled to have stem cell treatment.
Calvin Borel is having a stellar Turfway Park fall meet, as expected, recording 11 victories with 30 mounts through Thursday. Corey Lanerie, Brian Hernandez Jr., and Miguel Mega are also having impact meets, with Lanerie and Hernandez winning 10 races apiece and Mena nine.
But they were still all chasing Otto Thorwarth, a jockey few thought would top the Turfway Park fall meet standings more than two weeks into the meet, including Thorwarth himself.
"To be honest, I didn't imagine this," he said of the 12 winners he has ridden at Turfway.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Whatsthescript, who has emerged as the leading turf miler in California in recent months, will make his next start in the Breeders' Cup Mile at Santa Anita on Oct. 25, and bypass the $200,000 Oak Tree Mile on Sept. 28, trainer John Sadler said.
Whatsthescript won the Del Mar Mile on Aug. 24. Following that race, Sadler said the Oak Tree Mile would be Whatsthescript's next start, but he backed away from that plan on Friday.
"He runs so well fresh," Sadler said. "We had an either-or situation."
FORT ERIE, Ontario - Every now and then racing fans fall in love with a particular Thoroughbred, and each time the horse steps foot on the track the excitement goes up and the emotion sets in.
Choreography is one of those horses at Fort Erie.
The 8-year-old Choreography has had his share of ups and downs, and the heydays of 99 Beyer Speed Figures and stakes company may be long gone, but the public has not forgotten.
ELMONT, N.Y. Neil Howard made official Friday what he has been hinting at for the last week: Mambo in Seattle, the hard-luck loser of the Travers Stakes, will face Curlin in next Saturdays Grade 1, $750,000 Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park.
Charles Town intends to offer an open stakes race worth up to $1million next season.
The West Virginia track announced on Thursday the creation of the Charles Town Classic, a 11/8-mile race for 4-year-olds and up, scheduled for April 18, 2009.
The new race, the richest in the track's 75-year history, will have a guaranteed purse of $500,000, with an additional $500,000 available to graded stakes winners.
